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Motivating Security Personnel (From Museum, Archive, and Library Security, P 713-726, 1983, by Lawrence J Fennelly - See NCJ-87831)

NCJ Number
87848
Author(s)
O Frazier
Date Published
1983
Length
14 pages
Annotation
Museum security personnel can be work motivated through good communication between employees and supervisors, the identification and resolution of specific employee problems, and constructive employee performance evaluations.
Abstract
Communication between guards and their supervisors should involve making clear why assignments are structured as they are, including the goals they are intended to accomplish for the organization. Realizing the importance of the work to the organization should enhance the officer's desire to fulfill the work assignment. Communication should also solicit the officers' inputs so they will sense that their contributions are important to the organization. Employee performance evaluations should be conducted regularly to motivate and structure job improvement. Categories of performance evaluated might include knowledge of work, productivity, accuracy, initiative, resourcefulness, dependability, decisiveness, analytical ability, ability to anticipate, perspective, attitude toward job, and acceptance of responsibility, as well as written and oral communication, adaptability, and representation of the department. In evaluating supervisory staff, a primary performance standard should be how well subordinates are used to accomplish organizational objectives and the extent to which they provide the help subordinates need to improve job performance. Incentive awards can also improve motivation, along with actions that promote employee self-esteem and the sense that one is appreciated.